Thursday, May 31, 2012

Toddland, the finest men's clothing brand around, has partnered with Green City Fine Arts to bring you posters to frame and hang in your home. Now you can hang the poster version of your favorite Toddland shirt above your fireplace. I am showcasing the "Bikes" poster above, because it is my work. But I really think the "Go Outside" poster (below at the bottom) would look great framed too. And it would be kind of funny to hang it next to your computer or TV as a gentle reminder. You will also find a burger print, and a funny play on the classic kitten "hang in there" poster called "Just Give Up" for all you pessimists out there.

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Even though I have only done 2 Patchwork shows as a vendor, I've shopped at them since they started. I've also shopped at other craft shows, like Renegade and Felt Club (still haven't been to Unique LA). And I have to say that this past weekend's Patchwork in Downtown Santa Ana was the best show I've seen. It had the best backdrop and such an awesome vibe. It was like being at a big party!

There were friendly faces everywhere I turned. Even if someone didn't buy something, just having them stop and chat with me for a while was really cool. And I got to meet and chat with a lot of people. But also? A lot of people did buy things! I was so stoked. The last show I did, I sold 1 tote bag, and this time I sold 4! The unicorn skulls were a hit!

We had some sleeping issues with Zoey the night before. (Let me tell ya, if there's a way to squash any kind of "baby fever" you may be having, it's having your 2 year old start waking up at night again.) I was pretty sleepy. But being at Patchwork snapped me right out of it. It's like some kind of weird natural high.

My favorite things about the new Downtown location are that there are indoor real bathrooms, and there are a lot of places to hang out (Memphis, Gypsy Den, etc) if you feel like sitting down, escaping the heat, or grabbing a bite to eat.

Above: The "Libation Station" - so bummed I didn't get to try the Strawberry Rhubarb, but I did have a yummy Ginger Ale; Zoey helping mama sell things by being adorable. That star headband from Giant Dwarf was my Mothers Day gift!; Awesome speaker setup.

I am learning more each time. At my first show, I learned more about what to bring and not bring. Like, trash bags and pens come in handy, but I was perhaps being ambitious with my binder that had an inventory list for me to mark off every time I made a sale. Now that all those first-time kinks are worked out, I've learned:

I need more levels on my table. My favorite tables are the ones with a lot of varying heights, and I don't currently have that.

More buttons that say "Let's Die Friends." I didn't make a whole lot of those, and my thought behind that was that nobody knows who I am, so why would they wear that button? I forget that it's actually a pretty funny phrase and people really like it. I had a lot of people buying 3-5 "Let's Die Friends" buttons at a time to wear with their friends and give as gifts. Those were definitely my number 1 seller.

A larger variety of less expensive items. Unfortunately, the nature of handmade stuff is that it's expensive to make, and you spend a lot of time making it. That can make prices kind of high, and I totally understand that not everyone wants to spend a big hunk of cash on one item. At the same time, there are some items that I've priced as cheap as I can without just giving them away for free. Not surprisingly, those are the things I sell the least of. I am going to try to come up with some more items that cost less than $10.

More deals. This time I added a sign to my buttons that said "$1 or 5 for $4" and a lot of people were into the 5 for $4 thing. I think I sold more buttons because of it. I would like to come up with more ways for people to save money when they buy more than one item from me.

And now that I've done 2 shows, I think it's time to take the leap and buy my own tent, because I do plan on doing this again! What a great outlet to have this, and now Etsy, so that all those ideas swirling around in my brain actually have a reason to get made and a place to go.

Thanks Patchwork team for giving me this opportunity, and for making it totally affordable! I really can't say enough good things about you.

Friday, May 25, 2012

Howdy friends! I will be at Patchwork in Santa Ana on Sunday, peddling my magical goods. I will have tote bags, wooden brooches, prints, and plushies. Here are some photos of what I was selling last time. I'll have the same selection this time, plus a couple of new goodies.

Please note that the Santa Ana Patchwork is in a new location, downtown at Sycamore & 2nd St.

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Two years ago today, a tiny, adorable alien tap danced right on out of my cooter and into our hearts.

We had a little shindig for her in my parents backyard. It was really casual. I didn't even go crazy making decorations like I normally would. Except for the balloon wall I made to take pictures in front of. The "theme" was strawberries (her favorite food), so everything was red, pink and green. Instead of a regular birthday cake, we had angel food cake with whipped cream and strawberries. Our little homegirl had a lot of fun and crashed out that night.

Zoey is seriously rad. So multifaceted, this little gal. She loves taking care of her babies and she always says clothes and shoes are "so cute", but she also gets really excited about comic books and she loves Joker (from Batman). She loves to dance and sing along to Yo Gabba Gabba and Fresh Beat Band. She gets excited every time she sees a skateboard. She is fearless at the park, which freaks me out sometimes. She will climb up to the top of anything.

Kyle is trying to get her excited about baseball, which Zoey actually calls "Dodger ball." And I can't wait for the day when we can go eat sushi together, nerd out over decorating her room, and watch "Clueless." Although who knows? She might prefer Star Wars.

She's pretty hilarious, absolutely adorable, and is talking in sentences.

Here she is opening presents on the morning of her birthday party. Yeah, we sleep in Christmas jammies in May!

Sometimes I tell Kyle, "I always thought we'd have a pretty cute kid, but I never imagined she would be thisdamn cute."

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

I liked the way the light was coming in on our couch in the late afternoon.

A fancy cocktail out with my friends to celebrate 2 of them getting new jobs! This was called a Bauhaus Tonic - gin, muddled cucumber, lime, tonic, and burnt thyme.

My cat, caught on camera! Her name is Miso but I kind of wish it were Sasquatch. She is 7 years old. I acquired her outside of a Target. Some couple had her in a cardboard box with a slice of pizza and were trying to give her away. They had just moved into an apartment and found her abandoned there. I picked her up and she climbed up onto my shoulder and nuzzled into my hair, and I said "I'll take her." I ended up skipping Target and going straight to the vet to have her checked out. She was estimated at 5 weeks old, and the vet had to squeeze her to make her pee! She had ear mites, too. But we got her all fixed up and she's been with us since. She totally loves Kyle more than me, even though I am the one who rescued her. And she's kind of a bitch, but I still love her. Zoey calls her "Mimi."

Went for a nice walk around our neighborhood and it smelled so good thanks to all the honeysuckle.

I am so happy to see these sneak peeks from the Dear Creatures Fall 2012 line! Especially since there weren't as many styles that I was totally thrilled with in their Spring 2012 line. It's like they came back with a vengeance, and I love it. And they are bringing back the Madeline dress from Fall 2008. SMART. I wish more companies would give second chances for their hits.

Dear Creatures, if you ever find this post, I just have one gripe. The sizing differs sooo much from style to style. I never know what I'm going to get when I order your stuff. I have one dress that fits like a dream, one dress that could use a little more room but doesn't look bad so I still wear it, and then I just had to return a dress I ordered online a few weeks ago because it was unwearable (way too small). The problem is that these 3 dresses are all the same size and similar shape. It's a bummer because I just love you so much.

Monday, May 7, 2012

"Eat" via Cox & Cox. Hey wait.. Eat.... Cox? I'm sorry. Did you think I was just going to let that one slide? But seriously, I love the way this looks, but just think of all the way cooler words you could put in your kitchen. How about DONUT or BURGER or NACHOS? Or SALAD I guess, but those other words are more fun.

This is hilarious, and if I didn't have a 2 year old that I need to set a good example for, something similar might have happened here at Xanadu. Via Kristen and Nick on fab.com (that's all the info I could find).